Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit
In Nadine Sander-Green’s insightful literary novel Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit, a college graduate searches for identity in her work and relationships in the harsh, cold landscape of the Yukon.
Millicent, fresh out of journalism school, takes a job in Whitehorse writing for a local newspaper. It’s a town where people wrestle with their individual doubts and epiphanies as they struggle to fight off isolation. At the newspaper, Millicent works with a fellow reporter, Bryce, to cover the premier elections; after work, she finds comfort in the familiar (her former classmate, Sophie, is her new roommate).
When Millicent is given more freedom to choose her topics, she decides to write an article about a local man, Pascal—a filmmaker who lives on a school bus, choosing to forsake modern comforts and live a life free of distractions. Soon, a passionate relationship develops between them, causing concern among Millicent’s friends, who fear that she is losing herself in the relationship. Indeed, Pascal is not who he appears to be; if Millicent hopes to find herself again, it may have to be beyond the bounds of their relationship.
The prose embodies the Yukon landscape, where the river winks “silver reflecting the sun. Behind the town and the clay cliffs was an endless stretch of boreal forest. …The quiet was enormous, as if the vast expanse of land had swallowed the city’s noise.”
Before Millicent meets Pascal, the story is slow-moving, covering her interactions with her coworkers, Sophie, and election candidates. The central relationship helps to ground it. Millicent makes poor choices as the book progresses, but she also evolves, arriving at revelations as she faces compelling conflicts in a variety of circumstances.
Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit is a provocative coming-of-age story in which a budding journalist reckons with love, isolation, and issues of personal identity.
Reviewed by
N.T. McQueen
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